Bracken
Description A bracken is an evil tree-like beast that uses magic against players. A bracken appears like a large, dark brown treewith bare branches holding no leaves. It boasts a nasty mouth and eyes on the trunk. Though a bracken may seem to be a tree made worse through magic, it is actually a separate type of living thing that grows from a Bracken Seed. Yet each bracken stays completely immobile, rooted to its spot and unable to chase or flee from players. Brackens appear in various places in the forest around Oberin, and at least one island has them. Tracking shows brackens as blue. Brackens typically do not appear underground. Brackens are slightly weaker than Bone Mages and Gapers. A bracken can cast many spells; these each target one player and have a different effect; these spells include: * the Explosion spell that causes some damage. * the Lightning Bolt spell that does much damage. This is the bracken's most dangerous attack. * a healing of the bracken's Hit Points, a Bracken will only use this spell when it has low HP * a Poison spell, a Bracken can inflict more than one poison with a single spell * a "spell," where the bracken hits the attacker with a root. This is very dangerous and powerful, and Resisting Magic skill does not help, nor do robes of Resistance. This is a physical attack, but all the damage is critical damage, and is therefore not affected by the target's armor rating. But as with any physical attack, it will cause wear to all equipped armor, and is capable of destroying Lesser Protection Rings and Medium Protection Rings with the attack. In the past, Bracken were able to Paralyze and Disorient, as well as Weaken, Clumsy, and Simple Mind. However, as of May 2010, these spells are not in the Bracken's arsenal. Creatures are frequently adjusted over time, so this may change again. Lightning Bolts and Root Attacks are most frequent, with Poison and Explosion occurring less frequently. Bolts, Poison and Explosion are magic attacks, so armor provides no help, but the Resisting Magic skill will reduce the damage and a Robe of Resistance may also help. The bracken will also heal itself to avoid death. After each spell, the bracken will pause before the next spell, giving players a chance to attack or flee. A bracken has many Hit Points, so the battle against it will be long. However some weapons do more damage to brackens. An axe weapon (the type that can also lumberjack from normal trees) might do more damage; but brackens are most vulnerable to fire. A Flaming Sword will defeat the bracken most quickly. A dead bracken is a good sight. Defeated brackens drop a variety of loot, including gold, logs, various reagents, sometimes a single Dragon Tooth, and usually Bracken Root: see Enchanting. Tips The bracken is a danger because of its high HP and the power of its bolt. Sometimes, it is best to avoid the brackens. At other times, a player or a group of players will have what they need to successfully hunt brackens and thereby reduce the danger in the forest. Avoiding brackens Sometimes it is best to avoid the brackens. To weakened players, a bracken has the potential to cause an unlucky incident that leaves the players as ghosts hovering over their dead bodies. Consider this scenario. A player runs away from some creatures, hoping to gain enough distance to escape them, or at least to be able to stop and drink a Greater Heal Potion or Invisibility Potion. However, a bracken comes into view and, before this player can run in another direction, the bracken launches a bolt that kills the player. Scenarios like this do happen in Oberin. The easy tactic upon encountering a bracken is to turn away and flee in the direction from which the player approached the bracken: that is, to flee back through territory recently explored, because it is less likely to contain unknown dangers such as additional creatures or more brackens. A player or group of players wishing not to fight the bracken can also take a route around it, because the bracken does not move. As these players move around the bracken, they should be careful to remain beyond the range that the bracken may target, because it is possible for a bracken near the edge of the screen to target and bolt a player. Rogues can use their Stealth ability to avoid Brackens as well. Hunting brackens in a group Many players cannot defeat a bracken when they are alone. It is better to recruit a group to hunt the brackens. A group of players can attack together to damage the bracken more, decreasing the chance that the bracken will heal itself before it dies. A group also provides opportunities for weaker players to learn to fight brackens, and to gain successes in Resisting Magic. If there are other creatures near the bracken, then the players should lure them away and defeat them first, then fight the bracken. A sufficiently large group may be able to split itself, fighting both the bracken and the other creatures. Multiple brackens usually have enough space between to fight each one separately, but it is possible to have the situation where players fight one bracken while barely in the bolt range of a second bracken. If so, it is best to have each bracken target different players. GMs may place brackens closer together or even form walls of brackens during RTQs, and these formations are not common but they are more challenging. Each class has their own role while hunting Brackens in a group. Fighters should attack the Bracken, and they may use a Flaming Sword for more damage. If hunting with a Cleric, Fighters should not stand behind the branches of the bracken, because this makes it impossible for the Clerics to heal the Fighters. Thus, the fighter should stand on any of the three open spaces that are west, southwest, and south of the bracken. Fighters may also take out additional creatures, as long as someone else is still attacking the bracken. Rangers, if using a Bow, should just attack the Bracken from afar, out of the Brackens magic range.. However, if a ranger is using a melee weapon, then they should follow the same rules as a fighter does. Rangers may also deal with additional creatures that attack the hunters. Rogues should act similar to fighters, and rogues may also deal with additional creatures. Clerics should of course heal those who are getting attacked, and they may also cast supportive spells to raise the stats of other players. Druids should attack the Bracken with their Pet, or deal with unwanted additional creatures. Wizards should cast the Fire Field spell right away on the bracken, and recast the spell if it wears off. They may also cast the Simple Mind or Drain Mana spell on the bracken to weaken it. When the bracken dies, nearly all groups let the magic-users loot the bracken, as brackens drop reagents that are useful to the magic-users. Some magic-users might share the logs with other players. If the group has more than one magic-user, then they should alternate when looting brackens. Hunting brackens while alone Lone players can and do hunt brackens. This requires the use of the best strategies. * Raise Class Level to have enough HP to fight a bracken. * Wear a Robe of Resistance (unless you have a sufficient skill level in Resisting Magic). * Use a Flaming Sword, if you use a weapon. * Watch character's HP and flee if necessary. It may be fun to grab a Robe of Resistance and a Flaming Sword and go kill a single bracken; but it is not good to die, and to leave that Robe of Resistance and that Flaming Sword in that corpse next to the victorious bracken. Bracken are already level 8; each player death raises a monster's level 1, up to a cap at about twice its previous level. Clerics, Wizards, and Rangers are much more qualified to hunt brackens alone than any of the other classes. Clerics, with a high enough skill level in Wrestling and Resisting Magic, can wrestle the bracken while healing themselves. Wizards, with a high enough skill level in Meditation and Resisting Magic can easily kill the Bracken with the Fire Field spell while healing themselves with meditation. Rangers can shoot at Brackens with arrows with either a short bow or a long bow whilst still being out of the Brackens' magic field. While Druids may have good Resisting Magic, their pets may not. Creatures with high magic resistance like Blink Hounds make for good pets when hunting brackens. Fighters, and Rogues cannot attack from afar, so they are less efficient in killing brackens while alone, and they may have to use healing Potions. Notes During an update Brackens were bugged against the Fire Field Spell and would "Hop" away one space randomly away from where the FF was located at when cast upon them. Wizards were furious until the "bug" was fixed one to several days later. Category:Creature